Suspension of Ulster Unionist MPs ‘invalid’
The High Court of Northern Ireland has ruled that the suspension of three Ulster Unionist MPs from the party was invalid.
David Burnside, Jeffrey Donaldson and the Reverend Martin Smyth had been seeking an injunction against the party leader’s, David Trimble’s, decision to suspend the MPs after they had resigned the party whip.
The UUP MPs resigned in protest against Trimble’s policies on supporting the British-Irish joint declaration on the Good Friday agreement.
The declaration set out plans to reduce the number of soldiers in Northern Ireland in an effort to help move the peace process forward.
The judge in the case, Mr Justice Paul Girvan, ruled that the suspension was ‘invalid’ because the disciplinary committee set up to look at the issue had been ‘improperly constituted’.
The High Court ruled today that the participation of one member of the disciplinary committee, Barry Fitzsimons, could be questioned because he had been involved in an earlier motion of no confidence against Mr Donaldson in his Lagan Valley constituency.
But the High Court ruled that the participation of the Mr Trimble in a meeting considering what action should be taken against the three MPs was proper. Lawyers for the MPs had claimed that Mr Trimble was not a party officer and therefore should not have been involved in drafting charges or the vote to have the cases referred to a disciplinary committee.
